The Stand. One day there will be a TV show that does it justice wholly rather than having some good elements. But for now I read the book every summer.
The Long Walk by Stephen King. It’s short, a pretty quick read (thankfully) but is so intense and well written that it makes my whole body ache in sympathy for the characters.
To me surprisingly it’s actually wwz. I just love the way the book flows and how it’s set up as so many people telling their stories I would love more of them. I just read one that was very similar on Kindle premium but it’s just a style I absolutely adore
These are books I have read at least three times in my life time: Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice. Dostoyevski’s Crime and Punishment, Herman Hesse’s Under the wheel. Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci Chronicles series and Howl’s moving castle. Louisa May Alcott’s Little women. I know there must be more from when I was younger but those are the ones I know I will read at east once more if I get to live long enough (I do have a long TBR ahead and I’m already 43). Dickens’ Great expectations I love but I don’t think I have read it more than twice.
For me is Ready Player One. I got it in a loot crate years ago and it’s so dog eared and battered from re-reading. I even listen to the audiobook version regularly.
It scratches my adventure itch as well as the geek itch. It’s become my happy go to book. Just a shame the movie deviated so much from the book.
My Side of the Mountain – Jean George. I discovered it when I was 11 and had read it countless times until it went to the charity shop about 20 years later.
The Cradle series by Will Wight. If you liked Dragonball Z, Avatar the Last Airbender or shounen anime then this is the book series for you. The audiobooks are even better.
I discovered this series last year and I’m currently on my third rerun, currently at book 11 so I’m close to the end again. Will probably do it again next year
Depending on my mood, I vacillate between my two favs:
Pride and Prejudice (It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.)
AND
Jane Eyre (What a consternation of soul was mine that dreary afternoon! How all my brain was in tumult, and all my heart in insurrection! Yet in what darkness, what dense ignorance, was the mental battle fought! I could not answer the ceaseless inward question—why I thus suffered; now, at the distance of—I will not say how many years, I see it clearly.)
Beyond The Trees by Deryn Burton. New author, debut book but it TORE ME UP. I went through far too many emotions reading it too. It made me think about what it means to be selfish, it made me think about how many ways there are too grieve. It’s a hard read but it’s so worth it.
Read it when it came out. Reread it whenever a new book in the series came out.. so I guess I’ve read it 15 times. Plus listened to the audio book once, and watched the atrocity that Amazon calls a Wheel of Time TV show (it’s starting to get better, but they totally butchered Eye of the World).
If you haven’t read it and are any kind of nerd who likes to geek out on all sorts of science shit, give it a read. Or a listen, the audio book is great too!
Green Eggs and Ham. But seriously I loved Hatchet as a kid. I don’t read every year or anything but I did read it several times a kid and teen and I think I’ve read it twice as an adult. Might have to check it out again.
This is a YA book but I still love it- The Mostly True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian
It’s so funny but also so touching and it talks about real issues in the Native American community out west… I recommend it to everyone who I think might like it even a little bit.
Also Project Hail Mary! The space nerd in me loves that book.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. It’s such an underrated find. It’s visceral and terrifying. It was my first King book and I was hooked after.
Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon – I read it at least once a year
Different Seasons by Stephen King – my personal favorite SK short story collection (has source materials for Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil)
Dealing With Dragons. It’s a series about a princess who, like all the other princesses, is supposed to be sent off to a dragon to be “rescued” by a prince to have their happily ever after. However, the princess main character doesn’t want this for herself and aligns with the dragons and goes on great adventures. It was the catalyst that made me believe there was more than the typical “dream” and I made my own way. My husband bought me the trilogy as a wedding present, they are most prized possessions.
The Martian by Andy Weir. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. It’s now one of my go-to books when I’m in a slump or need a break from a long book series.
Hitchhikers Guide -Douglas Adams
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
Illusions – Richard Bach
We Are Legion (we are Bob) – Dennis Taylor (series)
Live Free or Die – John Ringo (series)
Skyward – Brandon Sanderson (series)
edit: I almost forgot Snowcrash – Neal Stephenson
The Count of Monte Cristo. Very nostalgic for me and one of my favorite stories of all time. I was so happy to see the story finally get a great movie adaption this past year!
The Great Gatsby, I force others to read it, too. I’ve owned so many copies over my lifetime because I’ll give it away. And then people come back to me saying “why did you make me read that?” I think they expected a happy ending.
I’ve also read Brave New World countless times over the decades.
Brandon Sanderson – Final Empire – Mistborn series (book 1)
So much happens and when you think it’s over it continues. The book is a bloody good read or if you prefer the audiobook Michael Kramer is immense in it.
The whole Mistborn series is truly great but I can always go back to this book and still be fascinated by it.
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
The Shining by Stephen King
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
“Night Watch” by Terry Pratchett. I give it a re-read every May, or, usually, April, cause that’s when lilacs bloom in Poland. I see them and they remind me about this book so much, I just need to read it again.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I feel like I get different something from the book every time I read it. I’ve read it about 5x since my first read of it (2010) and am very overdue for another read of it.
The Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read them once every year, maybe every other year for the last 20 years, since I first read them in High School.
The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin. First read when I was in 4th grade in 1988 or ’89. Every time I reread it, I catch something new. That is just PHENOMENAL writing – and this is in a book aimed at 11 year olds.
All of the books in the “Clan of the cavebear” series, I love how descriptive they are. It’s as if I can feel the sun on my skin and smell the flowers the main character walks by.
It helps me escape reality and get sucked into their world.
I have read the series at least 8btimes in 3 different languages, and I give it a read once a year
The Lord of the Rings! My mom first read it to me when I was like 4 years old and I have loved it ever since! There is so much to learn from that book including about love and masculinity.
Comments
The Stand. One day there will be a TV show that does it justice wholly rather than having some good elements. But for now I read the book every summer.
The Long Walk by Stephen King. It’s short, a pretty quick read (thankfully) but is so intense and well written that it makes my whole body ache in sympathy for the characters.
Huck Finn. It was one of the first books that I genuinely liked reading as a kid, and I probably read it a couple dozen times through my childhood.
The God Delusion
Mr. Dawkins made a lot of bright points in his book, which is fitting for an accomplished Oxford evolutionary biologist
Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy. Whenever I need a laugh
The Fog by James Herbert. The book got me into reading.
The Chosen by Chaim Potok
A Memory of Light. Final book of the Wheel of time series.
I’ve read the entire series a few times (3, but I skip Crossroads of Twilight), but the final book I’ve read over 6 times.
I get chills with the ending, every single time.
Dungeon Crawler Carl. Its just good for a laugh. The whole series so far is.
The wasp factory by Iain Banks
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The sicilian Mario Puzo
A time to kill by john Grisham
A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Housseini. Makes me cry every damn time because of how tragically beautiful it is.
Watership Down, To Kill a Mockingbird, Bang the Drum Slowly
To me surprisingly it’s actually wwz. I just love the way the book flows and how it’s set up as so many people telling their stories I would love more of them. I just read one that was very similar on Kindle premium but it’s just a style I absolutely adore
Deadeye Dick by Vonnegut – brisk read, deep themes with humor coating over a pretty strong message and some broken family elements I can relate to.
These are books I have read at least three times in my life time: Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice. Dostoyevski’s Crime and Punishment, Herman Hesse’s Under the wheel. Diana Wynne Jones’ Chrestomanci Chronicles series and Howl’s moving castle. Louisa May Alcott’s Little women. I know there must be more from when I was younger but those are the ones I know I will read at east once more if I get to live long enough (I do have a long TBR ahead and I’m already 43). Dickens’ Great expectations I love but I don’t think I have read it more than twice.
Timequake by Vonnegut. Seems to always hit right when life is going sideways.
Admittedly, the Tolkien and Lewis were read so much partly because I read them to my kids.
I have books that are seasonal traditions for me, I read them annually!
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Anne of Green Gables
Millennium Series. Ignoring the additional books that came after “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”
I love the classics. Crime and Punishment, Animal Farm.
The Scarlett Letter.
a series – gregor the overlander by suzanne collins
For me is Ready Player One. I got it in a loot crate years ago and it’s so dog eared and battered from re-reading. I even listen to the audiobook version regularly.
It scratches my adventure itch as well as the geek itch. It’s become my happy go to book. Just a shame the movie deviated so much from the book.
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. Lighthearted and deeply thoughtful, witty and silly, and with moments that can bring a lump to your throat.
And the “Commander Vimes Boot theory” of income disparity and capitalism is all the more relevant today.
GNU Sir Pterry
My Side of the Mountain – Jean George. I discovered it when I was 11 and had read it countless times until it went to the charity shop about 20 years later.
The Stand, IT, Shogun, Qualify, Time Enough for Love, Stranger in a Strange Land, Ender’s Game.
Edited to add another Heilein title I read a lot as a teen.
To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
The Rules of Civility Amor Towles
Stalky and Co. (I read this when I am really upset about something. Doubtful anyone else would enjoy it as much as I do…) Kipling
Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns
Dolores Claiborne and The Stand Stephen King
Touch Elmore Leonard
Slaughterhouse five -Vonnegut
House of leaves- Mark Z Danieleski
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Canticle for Leibowitz
They really should make a movie out of it some time.
The Hobbit, I read it literally once a year. I’ve read it at least 15 times
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Fool by Christopher Moore
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho—every time I read it, it hits a little different depending on where I am in life
Dune, and honestly you should read it more cause it is crazy good. The last 2 books kinda….. Speculative tho.
The Cradle series by Will Wight. If you liked Dragonball Z, Avatar the Last Airbender or shounen anime then this is the book series for you. The audiobooks are even better.
I discovered this series last year and I’m currently on my third rerun, currently at book 11 so I’m close to the end again. Will probably do it again next year
The full Lord of the Rings series every few years
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Illusions by Richard Bach.
Both tend to realign my brain
Gone With the Wind. Whitewashes slavery yes, but still a great story.
The hunger games books
Depending on my mood, I vacillate between my two favs:
Pride and Prejudice (It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.)
AND
Jane Eyre (What a consternation of soul was mine that dreary afternoon! How all my brain was in tumult, and all my heart in insurrection! Yet in what darkness, what dense ignorance, was the mental battle fought! I could not answer the ceaseless inward question—why I thus suffered; now, at the distance of—I will not say how many years, I see it clearly.)
A Time To Kill by John Grisham. Good movie too.
Flowers for Algernon.
A Scanner Darkly
Use of Weapons
Excession
Surface Detail
Consider Phlebas
Cryptonomicon
Neuromancer
Not every year but more than 3 times for each.
The outsiders! Classic
Beyond The Trees by Deryn Burton. New author, debut book but it TORE ME UP. I went through far too many emotions reading it too. It made me think about what it means to be selfish, it made me think about how many ways there are too grieve. It’s a hard read but it’s so worth it.
Poisonwood bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Pride and Prejudice.
I honestly don’t even read romance books, but this one just grabs you in a whole different way
Blindsight, Peter Watts.
Complicity, Iain Banks.
Fight club, Chuck Pahlaniuk.
Huckleberry Finn and Roughing It. Read both multiple times. Honorable mention to Hitch Hiker’s Guide
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Of Mice and Men is the one I read most regularly. But Good Omens, Treason (Orson Scott Card), and Dune get reread pretty regularly too.
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erickson. An amazing beginning to an even more incredible series.
Pride and Prejudice
Flowers for Algernon
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan.
Read it when it came out. Reread it whenever a new book in the series came out.. so I guess I’ve read it 15 times. Plus listened to the audio book once, and watched the atrocity that Amazon calls a Wheel of Time TV show (it’s starting to get better, but they totally butchered Eye of the World).
Sutree and Blood Meridian, both by Cormac McCarthy.
A Tale of Two Cities
The Dune series. I must have read those at least 5 times each XD
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Bill Bryson A Short History of Nearly Everything.
If you haven’t read it and are any kind of nerd who likes to geek out on all sorts of science shit, give it a read. Or a listen, the audio book is great too!
“In pale moonlight”, Nicci Gerard was the last one i’ve read twice.
For Les misarables i needed a few attempts to finish it.
Green Eggs and Ham. But seriously I loved Hatchet as a kid. I don’t read every year or anything but I did read it several times a kid and teen and I think I’ve read it twice as an adult. Might have to check it out again.
Dune series, Asimovs Foundation series, The Expanse
Cyteen. By CJ Cherryh
Blackout / All Clear. By Connie Willis
Plus, like… all of Discworld 🙂
This is a YA book but I still love it- The Mostly True Diaries of a Part-Time Indian
It’s so funny but also so touching and it talks about real issues in the Native American community out west… I recommend it to everyone who I think might like it even a little bit.
Also Project Hail Mary! The space nerd in me loves that book.
Anything Vonnegut but especially Sirens of Titan.
Until recently – good omens
Atomic Habits. Always a great reminder how tiny steps done consistently can eventually move mountains.
Cheaper by the Dozen
The Tombs of Atuan and The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin. They just feel good on my brain for some reason.
First law trilogy(pretty much the whole Abercrombie universe too)
name of the wind
Shantaram
red rising
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King. It’s such an underrated find. It’s visceral and terrifying. It was my first King book and I was hooked after.
Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon – I read it at least once a year
Different Seasons by Stephen King – my personal favorite SK short story collection (has source materials for Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and Apt Pupil)
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Záfon
The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
Dune by Frank Herbert
Dealing With Dragons. It’s a series about a princess who, like all the other princesses, is supposed to be sent off to a dragon to be “rescued” by a prince to have their happily ever after. However, the princess main character doesn’t want this for herself and aligns with the dragons and goes on great adventures. It was the catalyst that made me believe there was more than the typical “dream” and I made my own way. My husband bought me the trilogy as a wedding present, they are most prized possessions.
I read David Gemmells Rigante Series every year. All 4 books.
Dune.
The Martian by Andy Weir. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. It’s now one of my go-to books when I’m in a slump or need a break from a long book series.
Hitchhikers Guide -Douglas Adams
Atlas Shrugged – Ayn Rand
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
Illusions – Richard Bach
We Are Legion (we are Bob) – Dennis Taylor (series)
Live Free or Die – John Ringo (series)
Skyward – Brandon Sanderson (series)
edit: I almost forgot Snowcrash – Neal Stephenson
Princess Bride
Wheel of Time – been reading them since I was 11 or 12… 3 times for the full 14, read the first 5 like 10 times.
Cosmere – like 6 times
Dungeon Crawler Carl – 7 times since last July lol.
The Hunger Games
Invisible Monsters
The Count of Monte Cristo. Very nostalgic for me and one of my favorite stories of all time. I was so happy to see the story finally get a great movie adaption this past year!
Lamb by Christopher Moore. Funny and irreverent.
The Great Gatsby, I force others to read it, too. I’ve owned so many copies over my lifetime because I’ll give it away. And then people come back to me saying “why did you make me read that?” I think they expected a happy ending.
I’ve also read Brave New World countless times over the decades.
Perfect books
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
The outsider by Susan E. Hinton. It’s such a great book and I wish I could read it again for the first time.
Catch 22
I’ve read The Hobbit countless times.
I’ve read all of Louis L’Amour’s books multiple times.
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Robert Heinlen’s ‘juvenile’ books are some of my favorites (I count Starship Troopers among them)
Pride and Prejudice or anything Jane Austin
Moby Dick. A Christmas Carol. The Yosemite.
Harry Potter. I re read it some many times as a kid that my dad deleted it from my kindle. 🥹
There’s 2 I love reading:
Lord of the Flies
The Last Execution
And the one that I’ve been reading for a couple years because it’s long af and I don’t have time to read lol.
That would be Ulysses. (Really enjoy it, but it’s so long)
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Hobbit by Tolkien
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S Thompson
Lord of the Rings and Watership Down are my most read books.
The Wind in the Willows.
Poop poop.
Brandon Sanderson – Final Empire – Mistborn series (book 1)
So much happens and when you think it’s over it continues. The book is a bloody good read or if you prefer the audiobook Michael Kramer is immense in it.
The whole Mistborn series is truly great but I can always go back to this book and still be fascinated by it.
The Hungry Caterpillar.
All time classic.
Don’t judge me but Harry Potter
Angela’s Ashes
To Kill a Mockingbird!
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
The Shining by Stephen King
Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
The Redbreast by Jo Nesbø
After Dark by Haruki Murakami
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Hogfather, Terry Pratchett. I try to read it every Christmas.
Fahrenheit 451, The Hobbit.
“Night Watch” by Terry Pratchett. I give it a re-read every May, or, usually, April, cause that’s when lilacs bloom in Poland. I see them and they remind me about this book so much, I just need to read it again.
The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman! Easy to read, funny and clever.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I feel like I get different something from the book every time I read it. I’ve read it about 5x since my first read of it (2010) and am very overdue for another read of it.
A bunch of them, honestly!
But Watership Down is probably number one.
The rest of the top 10ish in no particular order:
The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov
A Separate Peace
Clan of the Cave Bear and Valley of Horses
Piers Anthony’s Blue Adept trilogy
The Chronicles of Narnia
A Wrinkle in Time trilogy
The Eight by Katherine Neville
The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Incredible reading in the fall.
Tinker tailor soldier spy by John le carre
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Hunger Games
Dracula
The Silmarillion and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I read them once every year, maybe every other year for the last 20 years, since I first read them in High School.
Cien años de soledad – but in Spanish hehe
Pride and Prejudice. Always read it when I’m sick. Comfort book
The Stand
Watership Down
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Alt the Terry PRATCHET discworld books.
The Hobbit – Tolkien
Alice’s adventures in wonderland/ through the looking glass – Carol
The Southern Vampire Mysteries – Harris
Anything Stephen King
LOTR. I read the complete trilogy yearly from the 6th – 8th grades.
The Phantom Tollbooth
Kingkiller chronicles. I feel like most people who have read them straigt up miss how insanely complex they are. Ruthfuss is a legit genius
Gone girl
I have worn out several copies of:
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Right Stuff
The Nanny Diaires
“The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed”
It’s not just one book tho …
The Chronicles of Narnia, Inheritance Cycle, and Harry Potter. I’ve read them all multiple times.
A short History of nearly everything-Bill Bryson
The Hobbit whenever I am traveling I bring it with me
The Westing Game – Ellen Raskin. First read when I was in 4th grade in 1988 or ’89. Every time I reread it, I catch something new. That is just PHENOMENAL writing – and this is in a book aimed at 11 year olds.
Watership Down. Like LoTR, but rabbits. Book is sooooo fucking epic. I go tharn every time I read it.
A wrinkle in time
Little Women ❤️
Terry Pratchett: Nation
The Good Earth.
Also Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Lord of the rings is first thing i get my hands on as the summer starts
All of the books in the “Clan of the cavebear” series, I love how descriptive they are. It’s as if I can feel the sun on my skin and smell the flowers the main character walks by.
It helps me escape reality and get sucked into their world.
I have read the series at least 8btimes in 3 different languages, and I give it a read once a year
East of Eden
It’s such a vivid read, but with a truly fucked up story
East of Eden
The Hobbit
Fahrenheit 451
Tau Zero by Poul Anderson. Lost track as to how many times I’ve read it.
Plus, Watership Down. Many times. Same reaction by the end of it, every time.
Good Omens and Enders Game are two of my annual reads
World War Z
Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy (and it’s sequels)
The Name Of The Wind (and it’s sequel)
Awaken Online (actually I read through the series again each time another book comes out).
The Lord of the Rings! My mom first read it to me when I was like 4 years old and I have loved it ever since! There is so much to learn from that book including about love and masculinity.
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. I read it every spring when I start seeing lilacs starting to bloom.
How do they rise up?
Witches Abroad, by Sir Terry Pratchett.
Good Omens,
Project Hail Mary,
Rumo
Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett.
Love all of his works but this one is my personal favorite.
To kill a mockingbird.